talkmagic.co.uk

Magic isn't what it used to be, a couple of years back people didn't have the internet, these days so many people use the internet to find
solutions to magic tricks. and just look at all the members on this site! there are many other magic sites that are also packed full of members. my point is, if the love of magic is growing so rapidly and there is SO MUCH magic exposer how is magic going to remain mysterious and entertaining? I want to know what you guys think!

The great thing about the internet is information.

Sure, the internet can show people how things are done, but the REAL magic never gets into the hands of the mindless kids who are pirating and exposing the stuff.

They'll never be anything more than hobbyists.

The REAL magic is in the performance, and these low-lifes prove time after time on YouTube and such like that they're not magicians, or performers.

So no, the 'art' of magic will never die. In fact, it's very much alive and kicking. And even for those of us who've been doing it/involved with it most of our lives (well over 25 years for me) I still find mystery and entertainment around every magic corner.

Sites such as AOM (Art of Magic) who 'share' magic files around the internet—mostly commercial stuff—are not killing the art at all. They're just too poor to afford the stuff, and want a free ride. Same with most of the exposure sites... it's capitalism off other people's success and profit.

A basic form of parasite.

The REAL magicians out there are a little more underground, and don't so much lurk around the 'net, and as such, the parasites can't destroy their hard work.

As for the title of this thread: "Wats going to happen to the art of magic?"... perhaps the same will happen as is happening to the English language...

Agreed.
It takes dedication and skill to become a magician.
You can't download that.

I think you answered your own question:

"solution to magic tricks"

Magic isn't about solutions to tricks! So if you go on the internet you may find millions of explanations of varying quality, but you don't find the quick explanation on how to be a good magician.

I think that's been discussed before in different threads and by now I've started to think that it doesn't really matter that much because firstly if I show a magic feat to someone who's seen an explanation of the method before, the person usually doesn't even notice that it's the same principle. Secondly if they try to find it after watching me they won't remember everything what happened in detail and since I don't mention the name of the principle used they'll have a hard time finding it or noticing that they found it when they got it.
So it's not a serious problem, except that the number of ill-prepared performances of young blokes trying to impress has grown rapidly, which makes many people fed up with magic because they've only seen poor performances. I got told before by people that they had "friends who practise sleight of hand" and I said more or less "Well, good for you, I do magic, not tricks for you to find solutions to".

I have a funny way of looking at it.
The more the lay person knows, the more new stuff we will have to think up and perform... And I except the challenge lol
And as Seige says, the real tasty stuff doesn't get exposed.

To be honest it doesn't matter what a spectator knows, I did a little experiment a while ago after a similar thread to this. I went home and taught Dave a trick, quite a nice card transposition effect and asked him to practice it for a week then show me how he'd got on. As a bribe I said I'd buy him dinner if he did it well.

As it turned out he got the mechanics down really well, patter was awful but the mechanics were as good as any youtube "magician". He got his dinner.

But the whole point wasn't wether he could learn the trick it was this. The next day I showed him a new trick that I'd been working on. He was very impressed and had no idea how it was done. The truth was that there was no new trick, the one I'd just shown him was exactly the same as the one he'd been learning for the past week, just with a different presentation and patter.

So what I'm trying to say here is that is doesn't matter what a spec knows, a good performance will always come out on top.

Another little story for you, about a year ago I saw a magician. He performed an amazing card effect for me, I had no idea how it worked. I was thinikng about it through dinner and just couldn't get it. On the way home it clicked, the whole thing was done with a simple cross cut force. Again a good performance will always come out on top.

I entirely agree with Lady of M's post. In fact, I recently was completely taken by a trick that used the SIMPLEST of mechanics. AND it was an idea that I knew well! I had to ask to see it four times before the penny dropped!

Lee

There are letters from the magician Seneca to Lucilius around 45-60AD. Mostly they were talking about the cups and balls. However I understand that there is a paragraph in there where Seneca asks Lucilius that with all the exposure of magic due to new trade routes being open how will magicians survive and keep the nature of the craft?

I agree that the "art" will not die or go away or be overtaken by exposure. As the others have said, it's not about "tricks." I agree wholeheartedly with the Lady, and I thank her for that story. Certainly magic continues to progress and "new" sleights or adaptatations of sleights enter the realm. But it's as much about the presentation and performance, where you can do a similar (or the same) trick with the same moves and create wonder because the sleights themselves are not the magic.

Either that or its just a really good idea ?

But I prefer to think my previous post is best -

The effect itself is simply one element of magic.....presentation is another, and it can't be taught on youtube!

The only thing that exposure does, is force you to be original.

It's funny. Quite a few layman know about certain sleights such as double lifts.

When I was at my summer ball, I was performing some magic to some people lower down the year and they knew about the DL. There was another magician there and they were saying how they saw all the double lifts he made. And I began my ambitious card routine and they couldn't really catch the double lifts because of general misdirection. So what I'm really saying is, even though these people can learn sleights off the net, with the correct performance, they still won't know how it's done.

Oops, I seriously didn't mean to say "Wats", that was a mistake! Good replies so far! But I don't necessarily mean whats going to happen to the art of a wonderful performance. If a youtube "exposer magician" isn't passionate about magic(they rarely are) he is just helping to destroy magic for other illusionists. Thats why I'm wondering if magic is going remain special with all this unveiling, even if the tricks aren't the most amazing. Then again, maybe I'm wrong..........

Ouch! No, I'm not one of those youtubers who exposed tricks using videos.

15yrs back I was fond of watching magic tricks from people who can make it as real as possible. During that early age I keep on thinking on how a specific trick was done.

In our country, you "won't" find any magic store, and you're lucky enough if you found one. So while growing, I can't find any resource on how to do such tricks, and this disappointed me.

That's why now, I created a magic site, with some tricks were revealed, because I know how it feels when you have a passion in magic and something limits your passion about it.